Issues
by Luka-Stewart
Summary: Kakashi finds a wounded girl in the forest miles from the Hidden Leaf Village, her face full of scars and no idea of who she is. It's an unlikely meeting, but one that will completely change their lives. Kakashi x OC fanfiction, rating under review. R&R if you like.
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

This is the story of how I met the love of my life.

Let me start this story where this story truly starts;

* * *

It was close to dusk and the forest was beginning to quieten, there was no sound.

That is until a kunai shot through the air and struck a tree, the silence was broken by the sound of two men groaning in irritation.

"You know you're a terrible shot when you're drunk, gimme those!" The first man bellowed, snatching the blades from his companion.

"I meant to miss her you idiot, we're not trying to kill her." The second man groaned.

"No, we're trying to teach her a lesson, and you're not cutting it close enough." The first man shouted, there was the faint sound of the kunei piercing the wind before it struck the tree - this time there was a small wail when it made its mark.

"Bullseye! You cut her face!" The second man cheered.

"Pass me another knife."

"That was my last one."

The first man scoffed. "God you're useless."

The man stumbled towards their target, kneeling in front of it when he got there.

"Learned your lesson yet missy?" He sneered, removing the girl's gag.

The small girl, filthy and bound helplessly, flinched away from where she heard the man.

"I don't think she has!" The second man called.

"Please...stop…" The girl begged, barely over a whisper.

"I agree, I don't think you have." The man before her said, shoving the gag back into her mouth. He pulled the knives from the tree and turned to walk away. The girl swore she heard a rustling in the trees above her, but the long hair covering her face stopped her from seeing anything.

"Where ya gonna aim this time?" The second man asked excitedly.

"Maybe I'll get her in the arm or leg, really teach her a lesson." The first man's voice was full of malice.

The girl screamed behind her gag, but she was unable to move due to her bindings being weighed under heavy rocks.

"That'll to teach you to steal from thieves, you stupid brat!" The first man screamed.

"Thieves, huh?" A new voice asked, startling the two men and especially the blinded girl.

"Who's out there? The second man yelled.

"I'll give you one warning. Leave the stolen good here, and run with your lives." The voice said.

The two men whimpered in fear, the girl could hear them turn tail and run away. Once again, she heard rustling, then the soft sounds of footsteps coming towards here. Her gag was pulled from her mouth, but she was too frightening to scream or speak.

"I'm not going to hurt you, stay still while I cut these ropes."

The voice was monotone and sharp, but held a tenderness that had her more fearful than before. She felt the ropes loosen, and she quickly pulled her arms to guard her face. Gloved hands held her wrists gently.

"I said I'm not going to hurt you." The voice repeated.

She felt the hands leave hers, and she slowly lowered them.

"Who are you?" He asked.

The girl didn't say anything.

"Are you hurt? Let me see…" The man gently inspected her arms, her legs, then finally he gently moved the hair from her face. The girl flinched ever so slightly, but allowed him to do so.

Both their eyes widened when they saw one another.

The boy had ghostly grey hair, and a hard black eye, the other was covered by his ninja headband.

The girl had shoulder-length lavender hair, big blue eyes, a significant burn scar resided on her right cheek. An inch long cut ran over her cheekbone, blood crusted below it as it began to heal.

"Where are you from?" The boy asked, tucking the hair behind her ear in a way that kept her scar hidden.

The girl gently lifted her small hand and gently tapped the boy's headband.

"What village?"

The girl shook her head, she didn't know.

"What is your name?"

She shook her head again.

"You don't have a name...you're not making this easy for me." The boy muttered, the girl felt a wave of guilt wash through her.

"...forgot." She whispered.

"Forgot? You've forgotten your name?"

This time she nodded.

"I want you to come back to my village with me, perhaps the Hokage can help you."

"Sa...sa….Sarutobi?" She stuttered, surprise rose in her eyes.

"You know the third Hokage, perhaps you're from my village." The boy pondered aloud, standing and extending his hand to the girl. "Come with me to my village, can you walk?"

The girl took his hand nervously, and tried to rise but couldn't. Her knees shook, she'd been tied down for days and her legs were numb. She looked up at the boy and shook her head.

"Alright, then I'll carry you. It's not far." The boy said, scooping her up bridal style and leaped to the trees. He dashed from branch to branch, slower than his usual pace to accommodate for the girl in his arms.

They travelled for a while, perhaps 30 minutes, and came to a large gated wall. The girl was scared, and clung closely to Kakashi as he approached.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Bad things happened here." She muttered.

"You're with me right now, you're going to be just fine." He said gently, she looked up at him in awe. "You'll be safe from now on."

He wandered through town until he reached a particular house, by now it was night and most curtains had been drawn for the night. But not the house he reached, one small window on the side stayed open and light poured from it. He put the girl down gently, supporting her with an arm around her waist and hers around his shoulders, and knocked at the door as gently as he could without being too quiet. There was a wait, then the door opened. Standing before them was a man with scruffy blonde hair in his bed clothes, wide awake but confused.

"Aren't you on patrol...wait….who is this?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that, Minato-sensei." The boy, Kakashi sighed. The man beckoned for the two to enter, and Kakashi helped the girl in and onto a sofa.

"Why do you have a girl at my home at night?" Minato asked.

"I found her on patrol, she was a living target for a duo of thieves. It felt wrong to leave her there."

"Who are you, my dear?" Minato asked the girl.

"She doesn't remember her name, I think she's been out there for a while." Kakashi answered for her.

"Do you have some kind of clue?" Minato asked gently, kneeling in front of her. The girl shuffled away from him, looking up at Kakashi who stood a few metres away.

"Don't be frightened, he's here to help you. Sarutobi-sensei isn't Hogake anymore, this is the Fourth Hogake. Minato Namikaze."

"Well that's a clue, if she knows the third Hogake by name." Minato said. "Do you remember your family name? Their clan crest? Anything?"

"A bird." The girl said.

"A bird?" Kakashi asked deadpan.

Minato wandered over to the bookshelf on the opposite side of the room, shuffled around for a few moments, then came back with some parchment and a pencil.

"Draw this bird, if you think it'll tell us who you are."

The girl cautiously took the pencil from Minato, and began roughly drawing. She drew the silhouette of a falcone inside a pentagon and pushed the paper towards Minato. He took the paper from her, examined it for a minute, and gasped quietly.

"Kakashi, as far as you know, does this girl have any burns on her body?" He asked, his voice sounded desperate.

"She has one on her face, why?" Kakashi asked.

Minato turned back to the girl. "May I please see the other side of your face?"

The girl looked over at Kakashi, who nodded, then proceeded to push the hair completely from her forehead.

"I can't believe you're still alive…" Minato muttered.

"What? Who is she?" Kakashi asked.

"She went missing 5 years ago after her clan was attacked, no one found her body so they assumed she escaped. She's the only survivor."

"My clan?" The girl asked.

"Sawakabe, originally from the Land of Birds. You're Souichi Sawakabe's daughter, Sayuri Sawakabe."

"Sa...yu...ri…" The girl said slowly. "I recognise that name."

"Kakashi, you can return to your patrol now that I know who she is." Minato said.

"I finished my hour before I found here, I'll be heading home if you don't need me anymore."

"Ka-ka…" Sayuri gasped, surprising both men. "Ka-ka...shi."

Minato turned back to his student. "I don't think I'll get much out of her without you here, it seems she doesn't trust me yet. If it's no hassle for you…"

"You're joking." Kakashi deadpanned.

"It's in the best interest of her safety, at best it'll be only a few days."

"Kakashi?" Sayuri asked, wobbling her way from the sofa to the boy.

Kakashi sighed, grabbed her arm and draped it over his shoulder.

"Come on, you're staying with me then. I'll bring her by your office tomorrow morning."

"Thank you Kakashi. I'll see you both tomorrow, bye then Sayuri." Minato smiled.

They left the Hokage's home and wandered down the dark streets to Kakashi's small flat. He gave Sayuri a quick tour, showed her where she could sleep in the spare room, and was about to head to his own room when she grabbed him by the back of his uniform.

"Kakashi…" Sayuri mumbled.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared. Please don't go."

Kakashi turned to her, his dark eyes were still sharp yet held a deeper kindness.

"You don't have to be scared anymore, you're safe here."

* * *

Hello everyone! Luka is back with another new fanfiction!

This story has been on the backburner for I kid you not 4 years. I created my OC that long ago and had the story in my head but I've never really written it down. Recently I discovered Issues by Julia Michaels and was inspired to finally write it.

I know what you're all thinking...

"Luka! You are so bad at updating! You can't start a new story when you have another one on the go! You're hopeless!"

Yes. Most of that is definitely true.

Ah well, lets see how this thing pans out!

~Luka


	2. Chapter 2: The Past Revealed

Luka is back with another update!

This one took me a while because I got writers block. Once I overcame it I was on a roll!

Tell all your friends, and leave a review!

* * *

Kakashi awoke when the sun rose the next morning. He went about his daily routine like nothing was different, up until he tried exiting his bedroom only to trip over something.

"What the-" Kakashi began to growl as he turned to look at the obstruction to his path. After a few short moments of surprise at finding a sleeping lilac-head in front of his doorway, he signed and continued with his morning. After a quick breakfast, he headed out to visit his old team mates headstone.

He stood in stoic silence, his head bowed and his mind empty. Around him was silence, as if he had awoken before nature had. Time didn't seem to exist when he stood in that spot, morning after morning, his shame and guilt clouding his sense of time.

Something was different this morning, however. Kakashi could hear the sound of life, of someone's footsteps, earlier than usual. He closed his eyes and felt the presence of someone walking towards him, a presence he still wasn't used to.

Sayuri slowly treaded closer until she stood beside him.

"How did you find me?"

"I could hear your guilt."  
Kakashi turned at looked at Sayuri, who was looking ahead at the headstone.

"I don't understand."

"I don't understand it very well myself, but when I concentrate I can hear what people are thinking, how they are feeling."

Kakashi knew he wasn't going to get more details if he pried further, so he looked back at the headstone.  
"I'll take you to the Hokage now." Kakashi muttered, turning and walking away. After a few paces he stopped and looked back at Sayuri. She had turned to face him, but hadn't moved.

"You're not like him, you know."

"What are you talking about?"

Sayuri had a soft expression on her face. "There's a shadow in your mind, a man you despise. You fear becoming like him, but you won't. You're nothing like him."

Kakashi turned again and began walking away. This time Sayuri followed him, and they walked into town in complete silence.

.

"All that we really understand about the night Sayuri disappeared is that there was an attack on her home, the culprits set the building alight and there was no evidence left for Anbu to track. It's clear that Sayuri was present when the fire started, due to the burns on her face, but from there on even she is unsure of the details." Minato explained to two men sitting opposite his desk. One had a long ponytail, the other a large man with a long scar across his face. Kakashi stood near the door, Sayuri behind him and she gripped his sleeve.

Minato leaned to the side to see past the two men, smiling when he met Sayuri's gaze. "Come here Sayuri, they won't hurt you."

Sayuri shuffled closer to Kakashi, but otherwise made no movement to do as instructed. Kakashi let out a short and shallow sigh, and began moving towards the Hokage's desk with Sayuri towed by her grip on his clothes. He stopped beside the desk and faced the two strangers, Sayuri cowered behind him.

"You're in no danger, they're here to help you." Kakashi muttered.

"Let me introduce you to Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka. They're a part of the Interrogation Core, they're going to help you remember what happened to your clan." Minato explained.

"It's a simple procedure. I'm going to use a Jutsu to enter your mind, and Ibiki is going to use interrogation methods to help me find your repressed memories." Inoichi explained. "Completely harmless, and painless."

Sayuri looked up at Kakashi, who just shrugged in response.

"Only if you promise." Sayuri squeaked.

"You have our word." Ibiki stated. "If you'll follow us to another room, where it'll be more comfortable, we can get started."

"Kakashi I'd like you to observe this, in my stead." Minato requested. "I have important business."

Kakashi nodded in acknowledgment. The two teens followed the older men out of the office and down the hall to a different room. Insider there was a few chairs set up, and a sofa.

Ibiki sat Kakashi and Sayuri opposite him, and Inoichi sat on the sofa.

"You need to relax, this will feel strange to begin with." Ibiki explained, before nodding his head at Inoichi.

"Mind Body Switch Jutsu."

The older man slumped back on the sofa, and Sayuri twitched and shook.

"You need to relax." Ibiki repeated.

"She has a strong mind, it's difficult to get comfortable in here without her trying to reject me unconsciously." Sayuri said, but it was clear she was not the one who was in control.

"Can you work with it?" Ibiki asked.

"It'll have to do." Sayuri replied. "Go ahead."

"Alright. What are the names of your parents?"

"Souichi and Yuki Sawakabe."

"Where are you from?"

"The Land of Birds, but she was born here in the Village."

"When is your birthday?"

"It's unclear, either March or May the 15th."

"Am I able to ask how he is able to know this information, or would that distract you?" Kakashi asked.

"Sayuri is the one who knows the information. Even though she's not in control, she can still hear my questions and remember answers. Inoichi is simply watching them as she remembers them," Ibiki answered.

He proceeded to ask more simple questions like that, to work out exactly how much Sayuri actually knew about herself subconsciously.

"Do you remember the day your household was attacked and set alight? What happened that day?"

"The details are fuzzy, all I can work out is that she trained with her Mother that day."

"It was around 9pm when the flames started, what were you doing at that time?"

"There's darkness, then screams, then red light. There's fire everywhere. It's so hot."

A tear began to roll down Sayuri's cheek.

"Is he-"

"No. She's crying." Ibiki stated before Kakashi could ask. "How did you escape the fire?"

"More screams, then cold hands, she was thrown out the window. The smell of blood is so strong."

More tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Are we okay to continue?"

"It was her, it was always her. She hated it, she was scared of it. The bloodline, the curse."

"Inoichi." Ibiki said sternly. "Can you keep control?"

"She betrayed me." Sayuri screamed, her scream creating a strong gust of wind that knocked books of shelves and blinded the men sitting in the room. There was a shout from where Inoichi lay, then the winds began to die down. When all three men were finally able to see they realised Sayuri was gone, the window to their left shattered.

"What did you see?" Ibiki asked.

"It was…-"

The door flew open, Minato and a few elders entered the room;.

"What happened?" He shouted. "Where's Sayuri?"

"She remembered." Ibiki stated.

Minako made a 'tch' sound and turned to Kakashi. "Go find her, she's in shock and would run from anyone else. You have the best chance."

Kakashi nodded, and used a Body Flicker technique to disappear from the room.

.

He checked by Minato's house and his own apartment, but there was no sign of her. He ran up and down the shopping district and started to run out ideas until he overheard two elderly women talking about a strange child wandering around the old Sawakabe home. He only had a rough idea where the land the house was built on was, and after about 5 minutes of running down housing streets he finally found the empty lot with a large stone monument sitting in the middle of it. He wandered towards the stone, and heard the soft sound of sobs emanating from it. He found Sayuri tucked up in a ball behind the monument, and sat down beside her.

After a few moments of silence, he decided he'd better break it.

"The Sawakabe's were really the only noteworthy clan to come from the Land of Birds, so when the house burned down they requested this monument to be made in their memory. Since they were unable to find the culprit, the Village felt obliged to do them that one favour." He said, looking up at the tall 3-metre stone pillar reaching for the heavens.

"My name is carved into this stone, to them I'm dead." Sayuri muttered, her voice flat and dry.

"You're not dead to this village." Kakashi replied.

"I should be dead." Sayuri growled.

"That isn't for you to decide."

"My Mother decided it for me."

Kakashi looked at Sayuri in shock.

"You can't be serious."

"She tried to kill me, my Father, his brothers, anyone with the Sawakabe line in them." Sayuri muttered. "She hated us, so she and some hired goons made the decided for us whether we were going to live or die."

Kakashi didn't know what to say, so he gave Sayuri the silence she clearly needed.

"My Father was only just able to save me, throwing me from the second story window to escape the flame. I saw my Mother flee, and I tried to chase her. I was scared, I wanted my parents. When I found her, she screamed at me to die and hit me in the head with a branch. I woke up and didn't remember anything. I was so far from Village, lost in the dense forest, and that's where I stayed. Surviving."

"Why did she hate you and your Father?" Kakashi asked, swallowing. "Did it have anything to do with what Inoichi said earlier? A curse?"

"My curse."

Sayuri turned and looked at Kakashi, her eyes flickered and rolled backwards until her pupils and iris could not be seen. Thick red veins snaked over the whites of her eyes, a cold shiver ran up Kakashi's spine.

"This scares you, but you don't cower or flee. You're curious, about me." Sayuri said. "You didn't sleep well last night, because that's all you could think about. The enigma of me."

"How are you-"

"Your Mother died when you were young, your Father committed suicide, you graduated the academy at the age of 5, your blood type is O, you hate sweets-"

"Stop!" Kakashi shouted, grabbing Sayuri by the forearm and shaking her slightly. Her eyes rolled back to normal, and she looked at him with a confused expression.

"You...pushed me out?" She asked, stunned.

"Tell me how you did that!" Kakashi demanded.

"It's the Sawakabe Kekkei Genkai, Shitsume. I can't explain how it works, because I don't know. All I know is that I can hear things no one else can."

"You said that this morning, that you could hear my guilt." Kakashi realised.

"I can't control it very well, my Mother forbade me to use it. Sometimes if an emotion or thought it really strong then I can hear it without actually listening out for it."

Kakashi sat in silence for a while, thinking.

"Have I upset you?" Sayuri squeaked.

"No, but that doesn't mean I'm happy." Kakashi replied. "Next time, ask for permission before listening to my thoughts."

"Okay."

"You said I pushed you out earlier, at least I have a defence against you." Kakashi sighed.

"You make it sound like the enemy." Sayuri pouted.

"Not an enemy, a pest." Kakashi smiled.

"You can actually smile?" Sayuri teased.

"Shut up."

"You shut up."


	3. Chapter 3: A New Girl

So yeah, this took forever to write because I was uninspired and had writers block, but I slowly pushed through it and here it is!

Trust me...this build up is necessary.

~Luka

* * *

"But I don't want to stay here." Sayuri pouted. "Why can't I come with you?"

"Because it's a high classed mission, and you're not even a shinobi." Kakashi deadpanned. "I'll be back tomorrow at the earliest, once you're a shinobi you can come with me on these missions."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Kakashi sighed lightly. "I'll be off then."

Kakashi turned and began strolling away.

"Come back alive." Sayuri called

"No promises." He waved over his shoulder as he headed for the village gate.

The young woman pouted again and she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, she turned around to see Minato standing behind her.

"Come in and meet my wife, she's been anxious to finally meet you." He smiled.

Sayuri followed Minato into his home and closed the door behind her. When she turned again, she saw a redheaded woman standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Sayuri, this is my wife Kushina Uzumaki. Kushina, this is Sayuri Sawakabe."

"Hiya, great to finally meet you!" Kushina smiled brightly.

Sayuri didn't say anything, she felt outnumbered and on edge.

"I have important business to get to this morning, but I'll be home in the afternoon." Minato explained, mostly to Sayuri. "Kushina will keep an eye on you while I'm out, okay?"

"I guess…" Sayuri muttered.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few hours." Minato said to Kushina. He draped his coat over his shoulders and walked towards the front door, petting Sayuri on the head as he passed her. "I'm going now, behave you two."

"We will!" Kushina smiled as her husband walked out the door, leaving only silence between the two girls.

"Did you want something to eat or drink?" Kushina offered.

Sayuri stared and said nothing.

The older woman seemed slightly taken aback. "Erm...Minato has told me lots about you, but you probably don't know much about me."

She was met with only silence.

Kushina's eyebrows twitched, seemly in suppressing frustration. "Say...something…"

Nothing.

"Excuse me for a moment." Kushina said in a strained tone, waddling from the living room into the kitchen. She grasped the counter top and breathed deeply.

"Keep it together, Minato said to be patient with her…"

Kushina let out one long sigh and turned around, to see Sayuri standing in the doorway staring at her.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" Kushina deadpanned.

Sayuri shrugged slightly.

"Shy, I suppose." The older woman muttered aloud. "I have some chores to do, if you want anything just ask."

She then headed down the hall and into the laundry, emptying the wet load into a basket and putting a new one on. As she picked up the basket and turned to leave the room, she noticed Sayuri's head poking around the corner of the doorway. In an attempt to limit her frustration, she chose to ignore seeing the child, and headed outside to hang the clothes. She popped the basket on the ground by the line and looked around for the peg basket.

She felt a small tug on the back of her dress, and turned to see Sayuri holding the small wicker basket filled with pegs.

"I left them inside, didn't I?" Kushina asked, a little embarrassed.

Sayuri nodded.

"You wanna help me?"

Sayuri nodded again.

"Okay, pass me the pegs when I need them."

They did this until all the washing was hung up to dry, Kushina smiled down at Sayuri when they were done.

"Next I have to dust, then do some shopping." Kushina informed her. "You can help with that too, ya know, if you want."

Sayuri nodded, then followed the redhead inside. Kushina dusted down the doorways, windows and shelves as Sayuri followed close behind, sweeping the dust that fell to the floor. When this was done, the pair walked to the shopping district.

"Minato suggested getting you some new clothes and maybe a haircut, if you wanted to. I'm sure those small and ripped clothes are uncomfortable by now." Kushina rambled as they looked through the vegetable carts. "And I said I'd cook whatever you'd like for dinner. See anything you like?"

Sayuri shook her head slowly, stood on tiptoe and spotted something. She walked around a confused Kushina and lifted to object to show her.

"You want...eggplant?"

Sayuri nodded quickly.

"I don't cook with it much, but let's give it a go!" Kushina smiled.

Sayuri nodded in return, turned and began walking away before Sayuri grabbed her by the back of her ripped shirt.

"Where are you going? Don't you know you have to pay for that?" Kushina asked, her voice a little flustered. Sayuri tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Kushina sighed. "No, of course you don't, you used to live in the forest."

The salesmen looked annoyed. "So are you two gonna pay for that or not?"

"Yeah yeah, don't rush me." Kushina grumbled, pulling out her coin purse. She hurriedly explained to Sayuri about purchasing food then they left the market. As they walked Sayuri stopped and grabbed a hold of Kushina's skirt.

"What's wrong?" Kushina asked, looking in the direction that the lavender-head pointed to. It was a clothing shop. "Oh, yeah, let's go get you some new clothes."

They wandered through the store for about 5 minutes before Sayuri was set on a handful of clothes. Kushina insisted her to wear them straight after buying them, which Sayuri did without complaint. She wore overall-styled shorts, a black and white striped long sleeve shirt, and knee high shinobi shoes.

They walked home as the cold evening air started to blow over, Sayuri helped Kushina unpack the groceries and watched in awe as she began preparing for dinner.

"I don't mean to brag, but I'm a pretty good cook. Minato said himself that he'd rather my cooking than take out any night!" Kushina smiled as she chopped the eggplants in half. "I'm making roast eggplant topped with miso, wanna help out?"

Sayuri looked over the counter to the knife rack, a chill running up her spine. She shook her head and took a step back.

"Suit yourself, but you're welcome to go take a bath or something while I'm cooking."

Sayuri shook her head once again, and continued watching Kushina.

.

"Girls, I'm home." Minato called as he kicked off his shoes and hung his coat on the coat rack.

"Welcome home." Kushina called from the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready."

Minato walked into the kitchen and placed his hands on Kushina's hips as she dished dinner into bowls, kissing the top of her head.

"How was Sayuri, any trouble?"

"No trouble at all, she was very quiet and helpful." Kushina replied, shaking her husband off and placing the bowls on the kitchen table. "Speaking of which, I'll go see where she ran off to, she got bored of watching me cook and wandered off."

Kushina exited the kitchen and walked down the hallway, she peered into the bathroom, Minato's office, and their bedroom but didn't see Sayuri anywhere. Starting to get concerned, she walked quickly to the laundry and found the small teen peering into the sink.

"Sayuri, it's time for dinner." Kushina said, taking a few steps towards the girl.

Sayuri turned to face the redhead, a pair in scissors in one hand and a chunk of her hair in the other.

"Oh, you should have let me know you wanted your hair cut." Kushina said. "Here, would you like some help?"

Kushina reached towards the scissors, only for Sayuri to yank them closer to her small frame with a shaky hand.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you with them. Give me a change, kay?" Kushina smiled.

Sayuri slowly handed the scissors to Kushina, who took them gently from her.

"I'm guessing you wanna hide your face, so I'll give you a cute little fringe." Kushina said, slowly bringing the scissors to Sayuri's face and slowly cutting a chunk from her fringe.

.

There was a knock at the door, Minato got up from the table and answered.

"Kakashi, I didn't think you'd be back so soon." Minato greeted. "Come in, we were just about have dinner. Join us."

"Only if I'm not intruding." Kakashi responded, entering the home and shuffling his shoes off.

"Not at all, Kushina loves having guests eat her food." Minato said. "I wonder where she got to, she went looking for Sayuri and hasn't come back yet, the food is getting cold."

"I'll go look for them." Kakashi starting walking towards the hall, but was stopped when Kushina appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry for the wait!" Kushina smiled. "Hello Kakashi, I'm glad you're here to see this."

"See what?" Kakashi asked.

Kushina giggled and stepped aside, revealing what momentarily seemed like a stranger. It took the silver-head a few moments to realise it was Sayuri - her hair was trimmed and tied into a bun on top of her head, her fringe covered her scarred left cheek, her ragged clothes were replaced with new ones. She looked like a completely new person.

"You look so cute Sayuri, don't you think Kakashi?" Minato smiled, a blush crept on both the teens faces.

"She looks fine." Kakashi replied, scratching his nose.

"Come on you two, let's hurry up and eat before everything gets too cold." Kushina smiled, gently nudging Sayuri's shoulder to encourage her to walk to the table.

Kushina sat next to her husband, while Sayuri sat next to Kakashi. The teen pulled down his half mask to allow his top lip to show so he could feed himself, Sayuri couldn't help but stare.

"This tastes good Kushina-sensei" Kakashi commented.

"Thanks Kakashi, Sayuri picked out the eggplants."

Sayuri blushed when Kakashi looked at her. "Good pick, I like eggplant."

Sayuri looked down at her bowl. "M-m-me t-too."

"She speaks!" Kushina gasped, startling everyone at the table.

"Of course she speaks dear." Minato said worriedly. "What would make you think she didn't?"

"She hasn't made a single sound since she came here today!" Kushina growled at her husband.

"I should leave her with you all the time Kushina-sensei, she doesn't stop talking when we're alone."

Sayuri's blush increased.

"Actually there won't be a need to leave her here while you're on missions Kakashi, I enrolled her at the Academy today." Minato replied. "Doesn't that sound exciting Sayuri?"

Sayuri nodded gently.

"You'll do fine, you're living with a prodigy after all! Graduated at the age of 5" Minato smiled.

"S-seriously?" Sayuri gasped.

"That isn't exactly table conversation Sensei." Kakashi mumbled.

"I can't believe she doesn't speak around me." Kushina's bottom lip wobbled.


End file.
